Mate: Revised
by Fear-Fades-Hope-Lives-4Eva
Summary: Only she could end up being married at the age of fifteen and not find out until four years later.
1. Scene One

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I do not profit off Inuyasha.

~~Scene One~~

"What."

Kagome stepped away from her friends, eyes wide, hands clenching her hakama. There was no way - they couldn't be serious! She looked from Sango to Miroku, even to Shippo. He at least had the decency to look away, tail drooping as he shuffled in place.

"That- this has to be a mistake! I couldn't, I mean I never-" She choked out the words as best as she could, each breath a grating rasp. Her eyes snapped up to look at Kouga when he stepped closer to her. She shook her head frantically, stumbling back from him. "Don't, I just-" She didn't get to finish by the time he was already in front of her, gripping her wrists. "Let me go. Please!"

"I need you to listen so I can't."

"I don't need to do anything because this is just some sick joke" A tremble worked its way up her body when he growled, "and I get it okay! Me and-" She stuttered, heart skipping over itself. Her vision swam and she had to curl in a little, push each breath up and through her throat, "-you can't just say this out of nowhere and expect me to believe you! Not after everything that's happened and not after I've finally started to recover."

A whimper slipped out of her when one clawed hand cupped the ball of her shoulder and the other gripped her hip as Kouga gently steered her backwards until she was pressed firmly against a tree. Each points of his claws were a harsh, terrifying reminder. He didn't have the right to be so careful with her body when he was messing with her mind. When they all were.

"This isn't a joke! Not this: not something this important to my pack!" The words went from a snarl to a whisper and she looked up at him, saw the pupil dilation. The deep breaths. And, just on the edge, the bit of red seeping into his eyes.

She heaved in her next breath, looked away when everything began to blur and mesh and followed Kouga as he led her down so she was resting on her knees. Kagome felt the weight of him as he curled over the front of her, knees hugging her legs and his breath hot through her hair. And she clung onto his pelts, pushed her forehead into his collarbone until the pain went from a dull throb to a bright and flaring tic. "But how? I never even said yes!" The words ripped her throat raw.

"Kagome."

Kouga tensed, pulling her tighter into him until her face was buried against his throat. She sniffled and, after a moment, he pulled away so she hunched down so she didn't have to look at Sango. Sango let her, cupping her hands around her own trembling ones. "When you both first met, after he took you, he said that he was going to make you his woman in front of his whole entire pack. You told me that he said he would kill anyone in his pack who tried to harm you. You didn't reject or deny that claim and so you became their sister and his intended. The only thing left do now is mate with you."

She clung to Sango's hands with a desperation that frightened her, "But don't I get to refuse or whatever? It's just the courting part, right?"

Sango sighed but gently pushed her up so they were looking at each other. Her face was thin and worn and her brown eyes looked tired. "Courting was what he's been doing since he met you and you never said no. He may have stepped in but you never actually refused him." Sango brushed some of her tears away, gave her shoulder a small squeeze and moved to stand before Kouga. "We're going to head back to the village. Give you two a chance to talk."

Kagome watched them walk away and waited until she could no longer hear the jingle of Miroku's staff to look up at Kouga. He knelt down, softly took a hold of her wrist and sat next to her.

"Please don't make me do this!" She begged. He pressed their foreheads together, staring at her like he was looking for something. Something that she didn't want to guess. Something he didn't see and his eyes wavered, lashes fluttering like he couldn't decide if he wanted to close his eyes or look away.

"I need you to understand that this is happening, Kagome. That I have ignored so many traditions that come with courting and even my instincts." His eyes flickered down and his hand came up to brush some hair away from her neck before he looked back up at her, "I still am right now. I want you to want this but I also want you to be happy. You're my woman and I would do anything to protect you but I also need to think about my pack."

"Why tell me now or at all then? Why not tell me sooner?" Her voice broke over the words, over memories and declarations that she couldn't think about. And her chest tightened, clogging her throat as her pulse pounded in her ears, muffling what he was saying.

"-mething happened or he was getting in the way. I had very little chance of doing anything properly so I tried to get by with what I could. Flowers-" Kagome pulled her hand from his and he faltered, "- y-you were safe, being taken care of. Getting on his ass when I noticed how stressed you looked." His lips twitched like maybe he was going to try to smile but couldn't. "I know how I came off and I'm sorry I've pushed so hard."

She pulled further away from him, chest heaving as she pushed back more than just tears. "So now I have no choice."

He grimaced, "You did and you would have had time to get used to the idea but now we both have no choice. The pack is unstable and some of the wolves are getting violent and impatient. There are other packs, even rogues, that are trying to kill us while we hung or patrol our lands because of it. If we don't, I will be killed and you will be hunted down. Mated or not, you would be the next Alpha. I don't know what would happen to you because you're a human."

Kagome glared mulishly at the ground, "So now I have to give up my body or die." She pushed off the tree with a bit of a tremble. There was no way she would be able to say any of this with him right next to her. "I didn't even get a chance to attend Senior High because of my grades in Junior High and I don't even know if I have friends anymore -" And didn't that hurt. Her friends, education, and future; even her family were going out of reach and she didn't know what to do to catch up.

"Kagome-"

"You're worried about your pack but what about my family-" She shouted over him, her frustration getting the better of her as tears blurred her vision.

"Kagome, listen-"

"No," She whirled around to glare at Kouga, "all I've been doing is listen! I care about you and your pack and none of you getting killed or me but everyone seems to have just assumed that I was going to stay! Have any of you even thought about what I might want! About what I got myself into! This isn't my time, Kouga, this isn't how things are done!"

Kouga grabbed her by the arm, pulling her close and caught her hand when she tried to slap him. "Calm down."

Heat rushed up her neck, flushed her face. "Calm. down." She spat. Kouga winced but didn't pull back. "What am I going to tell my mother!"

His other hand slid up to grasp the nape of her neck and squeezed. Hard. She faltered with a hiss, hands coming up to clutch at his wrist and he willingly pulled away just to twine his fingers in her hair. She didn't let go.

He let go of her arm to cup her cheek, pressing their foreheads back together. "If it makes you feel better, I'll go with you to talk to your mother. Help to explain."

He didn't get it. Tears slipped down her cheeks. "You can't."

"What." If the situation was any different or like normal, she might have laughed at his lack of inflection. But it wasn't normal and she had gotten used to much more than a Kouga that wasn't expressive.

"You can't."

"And why not?" The hand in her hair untangled from the strands as he moved to sling it around her waist and bring her closer. He tilted her head up to lick away her tears as he awaited her answer.

Kagome sniffled, "Me and In-" His name stopped cold in her throat and he nuzzled her cheek as she slammed her eyes closed and tried to breathe. Too soon, still too soon. "We are-were the only ones who could get through the well."

He pulled away from her and grabbed a string of beads that she hadn't noticed were wrapped around the hilt of his sword, "I talked to Lady Kaede before she died, before she even got sick and she had these made. She said that you just need to pour some of your ki into it and give me a command." His smile this time was a little wider, if a little apologetic, "See? I swear I meant to tell you."

Her mouth opened and closed as she stared down at the innocuous beads because of fucking course he had already thought of that! Kagome's throat clicked as she swallowed.

"Here, we can talk more tomorrow morning. I want you to have a chance to think about everything."

She stumbled when he abruptly let her go and maybe he meant to only help keep her from falling but when his hand touched her back, the tips of his claws grazing just under her tank top, she fainted.

~End.~

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Word Count: 1705 (This does not include the chapter title, disclaimer, my little '~End.~' or anything written after the line.)

Note: And that lovelies is the first revised chapter of the new Mate. For those of you who haven't read it on AO3 or just would rather use ff . net than AO3, here you go!

Some extra info:

The kind-of on the panic attack is because I'm writing based on how I already had her reacting. My own experience is more of an out-of-body. So if I over-do it, let me know. If it's too unrealistic, let me know.

In Japan, the legal age for a female to get married is 16 or older and the male is 18 or older, but if one or both are under the age of 20, they have to receive parental consent to be married.


	2. Scene Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I do not profit off Inuyasha.

Note: This chapter is a little graphic with body fluids. Not in the sexual sense either.

Note 2: I am not all that familiar with seizures, so I'm not going to pretend that I know if there are could be seizures, so yeah. A good bit of the physical pains and all may not be entirely accurate. If, at all.

While I was looking up some information, I found out that Ayame is only a character that exists in the Anime and not in the manga. I will temporarily mention her but she has no significant part in my story. She never met Kouga, she is not interested in mating with him. She will be just a minor mention, that is it.

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~~Scene Two~~

The skin on her back throbbed and pulsed with heat when she woke.

Kagome slowly pulled herself out from under the blankets to see that she was in one of the newly built huts and, when she looked around, saw that Kouga was sleeping against the wall behind her. The angle of his head made her grimace in sympathy and she moved to kneel, to wake him before it became too uncomfortable. Pain raced up her spine and she fell forward, one hand curling over her waist as she tried to breathe through it.

'It was okay. This would pass. It was normal.' She repeated the mantra in her head, as many times as she needed to until the pain did eventually fade. She didn't completely relax but she did sag a little. Then the leftover adrenaline curdled into the usual nausea quickly and she almost didn't make it over to one of the empty buckets next to the entrance.

"Kagome."

Calloused hands cupped the balls of her shoulders then slid up into her hair, pulling it out of the way as she retched. Her stomach cramped as it tried to force out more of what wasn't there and she choked on the next heave. Tears burned on her ducts when snot dripped and bubbled from her. Kouga didn't say anything, just helped hold her until she could finally take in a proper breath. She tried to wipe away the mess on her face but it just spread all over her wrist and arm after dropping in long, wet strings. She hiccuped through a strangled cry when he reached over to her other wrist to grab the pony there.

A second later and her hair was up in a messy but loose bun and she slowly sat back. She tensed when he pressed his head into the back of her neck, his arms coming around to lay on her curled legs with a dry cloth in one hand and a water bottle in the other. She grabbed them, quick to drench the cloth and wipe away the mess on her face and arm. Some, she used to swish around and spit out left-over bile into the bucket and the rest she carefully downed. "Thank you, Kouga." Kagome's throat burned with the words. "Could I have another bottle, please?"

He held out another to her, his claws purposely arched away from the bottle and he still didn't say anything as she drank it, her throat clicking with each swallow. She crinkled the bottles up and tossed them into the bucket. Gave herself and moment and closed her eyes, until the beat of her heart didn't take up so much space in her thoughts and the rate of her breathing didn't steal her words. "Kouga?"

His nose pushed into her skin, warm breath making her shiver. "They said you were getting better."

Kagome laughed and it sounded hysterical. "This is better." She listened as he took a deep breath, looked down to watch his fingers curl in the air. "No one's had to watch over me for almost a month now… did I have a nightmare?"

"No. I just wanted to be here." He slowly moved his hands closer to her stomach and pressed, pulling her back so she was curled against his chest, their legs bending to rest against each other. His body gradually relaxed against her the longer she didn't negatively react to his touch, until his chin was propped against her shoulder instead. "Is there anything else I can do?"

She pushed back in his embrace. "Just, this-this is okay-just…" She touched his hands, felt the way they were curled in so she wouldn't feel his claws. "Talk to me. Tell me what's happened since…with the others. I just need something else to focus on."

His chest pressed into her shoulders when he breathed and the heat of his body sunk into her skin. "Other, lesser packs in the East have been gradually making their move on us when we hunt or travel and lately, are trying to argue where exactly our territory lines end so they can take it. We've had to increase the number of groups that go out to hunt after a few near misses and when someone tried to harm one of our expecting wolves. The Northern Pack briefly tried to push the Alpha's granddaughter onto me but I wasn't the only one who refused." His lips pressed into her shoulder as he tried to smother the smug smile she could hear in his voice. "Turns out she already had her eyes set on someone else and she didn't appreciate his meddling. Was pretty vocal about it, even. But-"

Kagome tipped her head back and listened to his voice, felt the vibration of the words in her back and mulled over what happened yesterday. She hadn't had such a visceral reaction-not that it was all that surprising with how stressed she had gotten-to anyone touching her back since the last time Jinenji had to visit to apply the last of the demon salve he had created to reduce the amount of scarring and nerve damage. A faint twinge made her start and Kouga paused but she just gave a light squeeze to his hands and settled back down.

"Kagome?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, surprised to see the deep set of his brows as he stared at her.

"Do you need to lay down?"

"No, I-" Her breath hitched when his hands tightened, then he was lifting her and placing her back on the blankets. The tips of his claws skimmed along the bottom of her shirt before he was pulling it up and off.

"What are you-"

"Lay down."

"Kou-"

"Now." She stared at him for a second, rolling her jaw in quiet irritation, which he obviously caught from the way his nostrils flared. "Fine." She slid down onto her stomach, moving to rest her head on her arms when Kouga grabbed both her wrists just long enough to flick open the front fastener on her bra. "What-"

He pulled it back, completely off, and pushed her arms so they were curled up along her sides then put just enough weight behind his hands so she had to turn her head and rest it on the pillow or risk hurting her neck. Then he was astride her hips and pushing the pads of his fingers into her back. A guttural moan left her at each rounded press and she melted.

Her thoughts slipped out of reach, muzzy and half-formed as they already were, as the initial beginning twinges of a could-be seizure dissipated.

She fell asleep.

~ Fin. ~

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Word Count: 1,119

Note: Posting all of these since I have the other chapters on AO3 already up.

Posted: September 7, 2017 (10:06 PM Mountain Time)


	3. Scene Three

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I do not profit off Inuyasha.

Note: This plant is used for easing body pain. Here's the site I found it on, just in case anyone wants to know what it looks like. Udo (Aralia cordata)

Also: Me not using Ayame in my story is a matter of personal preference because it always seemed a little far-fetched and forced when she showed up in the Anime. I can read it just fine in other people's works, it's just not something I'm comfortable with writing. 

* * *

~~~Scene Three~~~

The sun was still barely peeking over the treetops by the time Kouga found her.

She can feel the rapid fluctuation of his aura and hear his quiet growling as he stands just feet away from her but she doesn't look over. Doesn't let the sound affect her more than an elevated heartrate. Rationalizes it as exposure, an attempt to refamiliarize herself. 'He was a friend. An ally… - a soon-to-be mate. He wasn't running on instinct and reacting based off them.'

This was just concern being expressed through anger.

It isn't like she purposely hid from him or even meant to slip out of the village after she woke up this morning but she needed away from … everything. Some room to breathe, to walk, to just be. And she can't get that in the village. She pushed aside some bramble to get to a group of blackberries further in and dropped them in the basket, waiting to see if he'd say something. Would he grab her? Shake her? Demand more than what she's already being expected to give? Drag her back to the village to be yelled at by the others? She didn't know.

She grabbed a few more.

He didn't move.

Did he really expect her to say something? Maybe apologize? Grovel? Plead? Beg?

Kagome sucked in a harsh breath and shook her head. He wasn't Sesshoumaru and this wasn't like when she had first woken up. She hadn't done anything wrong. She had left a note. Maybe she hadn't _specified_. But she had left a note.

She hadn't done. _Anything._ Wrong.

No way was she going to let those thoughts make her relapse back into those first few months.

She leaned back to see if she had missed any other spots.

"What kind of reaction are you looking for here, exactly?"

She nearly dropped the basket in surprise but otherwise she didn't respond. The harsh breath and near silent expletive almost make her look but she determinedly kept all her focus on the bush.

"You took the subjugation necklace."

"I did."

"You went to the well and sat there."

"I did." She stood up and walked over to some of the _Udo_ nearby. Before she starts to harvest it, she untucked some of the cloth under layer to cover the blackberries.

"There was a fresh trail leading down the well."

"There was."

His snarling bark has a rabbit scrambling out and away, from a nearby bush, and flocks of birds to fly away. She calmly set another piece of _Udo_ in the basket. "Can you _please_ _look at me_?"

She paused, palming the stem. Kagome licked her lips and gave it a moment before she sighed and stood up, pivoting around. She started at how- disheveled? - he was. Being Kouga, she'd come to expect that some part of him would always have a bit of dirt-but this wasn't just _dirty_ , this was- she couldn't even figure out a proper word to describe how he looked. "I left a note." Shit. She hadn't meant to say that. Or anything, really. Why the hell had she said that? What. The. Fuck.

She shuffled in placed when he dropped his head in his hand. His hair had started to spill out of his tie and over his shoulders and she could see that he had somehow scratched himself deep enough that some of the blood had been smeared here and there all over his skin. Her breath caught when he looked back up-

-his eyes were wet. " _Kagome_."

Her shoulders curled up defensively and her dirty feet suddenly seemed so much more interesting. "sorry."

"Don't-I'm not-" She flinched this time when he snarled. "Talk to me, _please._ "

Kagome looked up to see he had crouched down, arms loose in between his legs as he hung his head. His haggard breathing was loud in the space between them. She watched him for a moment, just until she felt his aura begin to fluctuate, then walked over so that she was kneeling in front of him. She placed one hand on his head when he moved to lift it and the other, she put down the basket before grabbing his hand and pulling him so he was kneeling as well.

She waited until he was looking up at her, a little steadier and his eyes dry. Her fingers curled just under his chin before she placed her hand atop their intertwined ones. "What, exactly, am I to you?"

"Kag-"

"Please, Kouga."

"Mate. You're my _mate_ , Kagome. I _told_ you this."

She set her jaw, glaring at him. " _No_ , Kouga. You told me I had to mate with you to keep everyone alive. There's a _difference._ " She stressed the last word enough for it to be a hiss. He flinched back and she didn't take any enjoyment from it. This whole situation was fucked up. This time period was fucked up. God, she cared about all these people so much but the clear consent difference between the two was really-she took a deep breath –

Kagome had to remind herself that he was giving her as much of a choice as he could. That he hadn't waited until the _very. last. second._ to tell her or just force himself on her. It didn't reassure her so much. Her consent in all this still felt too skeevy. "When you caught my scent at the well, and in it, did you think I had just abandoned you?"

"No!"

"Kouga!" She snapped at him.

He hesitated. "I know how easy it would have been to just leave us all behind. We- "

" _We?_ And how many is we and why did they think I would abandon everyone like that–"

"It's not like that, Kagome."

She stared at him. Her eyes narrowed. "Then what is it like? Because I'm getting a lot of 'you are mated to him', 'you have a responsibility to him and his pack', 'you should be grateful you know this much' kind of vibes here."

He groaned, pulling away from her to fist his hair before he was pinching the bridge of his nose and scrubbing at his face.

Kagome sighed, rolled her jaw, and grabbed the basket. She pushed it into his chest and let go when his hand came up to automatically grab it. "Take that back to the village."

"Kagome, what-"

"I'll be waiting at the well." She stood up and strode away from him.

The wind in his abrupt departure batted against her back before she even came close to the tree line. It was almost enough to make her laugh, if she hadn't felt so wrung out and exhausted. She pushed, ducked, and weaved around the plants and the trees, even stopped when a family a quail rushed past her in a line. Glanced up to the fading rustle and disappearing tail of a raccoon dog. Anything to keep her thoughts from focusing and twisting around so she didn't stray to the one person that was taboo in the month's past and even into the months ahead.

She stepped into the well's clearing and slid down against the aged wood so that she was leaning against it.

Between one blink and the next and he stood in front of her. He took a moment to pull his hair back up before he sat down, legs crossed. Her gaze skirted away from the brief flash of his under-wrap only to snap back up to his face when the pads of his fingers skimmed along the underside of her jaw. The occasional graze of his claw points had shivers running up and down her body. She was still just tired enough that it didn't tip her closer to an attack and she stared at him.

"You don't have to love me, Kagome."

He sounded so tired and she crumpled under the weight of his resignation and her own. Everyone knew she could easily slip away to her own time and never come back but she wouldn't-couldn't do that to him, or Ginta, or Hakkaku, or any of them. She pulled him close and hugged him, hid her face in his neck. His arms wrapped around her just as tight.

"That's my answer. This can be just an obligation for you."

Kagome gave one last squeeze before pulling back. She pulled his arm so that he was sitting next to her and rested her head on his shoulder. "There's no point going back to my time." He tensed and sat forward to turn and look down at her. "My family won't be home for a few months."

"What," She watched his jaw work and flex as he tried to work through whatever it was he was trying so hard to say. "-what do you want to do?"

She bit her lip. "Could _we_ go anyway? It's been so long."

He smirked down at her - so close to how he used to act around her that it hurt to see - and held out a hand. "Just waiting on the beads."

~ Done. ~

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Word Count: 1,518


	4. Scene Four

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I do not profit off of Inuyasha.

Note: As far as I, the writer, have figured, this will probably be the longest chapter out of all of them but I may be wrong so don't take me on my word.

Information this time will be at the end considering how much there is.

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~Scene Four~

When they stepped out of the well house, Kagome expected Kouga to yell and cringe or pass out from all the different smells and sounds. She expected him to get mad at her, start accusing her of trying to poison or deafen him. Be over-the-top and dramatic. All she got was a sneeze and what sounded like him trying to swallow down a hurl, and even a little stumble past the doors. His face twisted up into a grimace and he took a deep breath through his mouth and repeated it a few times. She watched him for another second, almost wondering if maybe there would be more but he just squared his shoulders and started looking around.

Her mind reeled at how calm he was compared to…

to-

to—

"Kagome?" She snapped her blank gaze back up to look at Kouga. "You okay? Your heartbeat went a little erratic."

"I-um, no, just thought you would react a little more… violently, I guess."

His lips curled and even from the short distance between them, she could hear his growl as he stared back at her. "The others mentioned I would be affected by the difference and it's… not _bad_ , just stronger," he shrugged and stepped up to hold out a hand for her, which she took. "you sure you're okay? You're getting pretty pale."

Kagome waved away his concern as she pulled him alongside her. "I should be able to handle the rest of the way to the house, Kouga. It's only a courtyard, of which I just walked across in the past without any trouble. I'm more curious about your heightened senses. I've never actually asked anyone, I've kind of learned and watched or experienced but I read somewhere that a wolf's sense of smell is stronger than a dog's, wouldn't it-" It was such a minor thing but her attention shifted when she caught sight of some weeds that had sprouted up along the row of bushes that were planted alongside the center railings. Kagome moved closer to see that there were clusters of debris caught in the bramble and roots, then up to see faint webs on some of the closer stone lanterns. "Even if no one is home, someone should be looking after the shrine, so why is it so dirty?"

"Do you think something happened?"

Kagome gave him a small glance, opened her mouth to protest, paused and shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. It's been almost a year since my family has seen me but I had told them the time between each trip would be longer now that the final battle was coming to a close. The note-"

"Note?"

She pointed back at the well-house, "There was a note taped to the inside of the doors. With school out for the summer, they all decided to travel outside the country. Souta wants to watch Professional Soccer in person and I guess there's a National Tournament going on over in Europe." Her arm jerked as the muscle seized and she held it down against her side even as Kouga pushed her over to one of the courtyard steps to sit down so she could curl over her knees. She carefully kneaded the muscle, hand clenching, until her shoulder unlocked and she could relax. Kagome stretched the muscles along her back and shoulders to feel the strain each movement caused. "I might… have overdone it a bit today."

"It was because you were harvesting those plants earlier, wasn't it?" The scowl she could hear in Kouga's voice had her glaring up at him from between the tangled curls of her hair. He just glared back and her familiarity with demons, males, and _male demons_ made the signs of Kouga wanting to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way rather telling and she let her aura flare around her until he hissed and scooched away. His own aura briefly flashed then relented.

"It was _because_ of the _lack of physical recovery everyone insists I'm not ready for_. Lack of use of muscles from an injury can lead to the deterioration of muscles," A set of measured breaths calmed her enough so that she could prop an elbow on her knee, head cupped in her hand and still bent so the light wasn't as bright. Tremors wracked her from head to toe. She had definitely overdone it today. "Sometimes proper bed rest can be worse."

"We were just wor-"

"I know! I don't need a constant reminder!" Kagome pushed up off the steps and took a few cautious steps forward. She breathed out quietly and brushed away some of the hair clinging to her neck. "Look, let's just get inside and you can alpha wolf me all you want, okay? I already admitted I overdid it, so we don't need to drag this out."

Fingers tucked just under her arm and an arm swept beneath her legs to pull her up and against Kouga's chest. "Kou–" She tucked her face up against his neck when he jumped once then again _then_ set her down right in front of her house. She righted herself and scowled up at him. "Kouga!"

He stepped back, one clawed finger coming up to press against her chest, "Difficulty breathing," dragging up and off her tank to press two fingers to her neck, "fast pulse," his thumb tucking into the dip of her collarbone "pale skin," then further up to just under her eye, "dark circles." He pulled away to gesture between the two of them, "Demon. Human."

"This _human_ needs to get used to doing the proper or _normal_ amount of exercise again!"

"You just admitted that you overdid it so now what you need to do is rest!" He did a broad sweep of his arms towards her house and raised both brows at her. "We're here, so let me take care of you!"

Kagome almost hissed out at the subjugation command in her anger if it hadn't been for the loud yowling that started up on the other side of the door. She stared at the wood for a second, mouth twisted in confusion before her eyes widened, "Buyo?" She slammed the door wide and the cat barreled straight into her legs, knocking her knees, and she fell back onto Kouga. Buyo clawed at the frayed ends of her hakamas, still yowling as loud as he could. She went to bend down and grab him but stopped mid-motion at the rush of pain that danced along the nerves of her back and had her grimacing. She placed one hand back against Kouga as he held her up and peered back at him, "Fine. You think you could handle getting us both inside?"

A quick lurch had his hands tucked back under her knees and back, respectively, with Buyo flying up to land in her lap from having his claws embedded in her clothes. She snorted and tried to give Kouga her dirtiest glare but he just smiled and gave her a little jostle. "What part of 'Demon. Human.' are you not getting?"

She nestled Buyo closer, stoking down his spine to settle the raised fur as he stepped in and slid the door closed with his foot. A sneeze tickled her nose and got Buyo to bristle and hiss before he kneaded her tank top and settled back down, still with the occasional meow. "What part of 'cat. wolf.' or 'canine. feline.' do you not get? Down the hall, to your right, is the kitchen." His furrowed brows gave her pause for a second before it clicked. "Where we gather to eat food."

"Ah." He stepped in and set her down at the table when she directed him with a hand towards it, readjusting Buyo again even as he started butting into her chin. "And your cat is about as threatening as that tanuki Miroku knows."

She gave a quiet huff but ignored him in favor of Buyo again when he started to climb her so that his butting hit her in the face, meowing the whole way. A press along his ribs and it was fairly easy to see why he was being so fussy. She scowled, "When I find out who was supposed to be looking after the shrine, they are going to be in so much trouble. The door along that wall? There will be a bright colored bag that has a painting of a cat on it. Can you grab it and pour some of it into that little bowl?" Here, she pointed to the right of the entryway where the food dish was, "Then afterward, fill up the other one with water from the tap?" and over back to the opposite side of the kitchen containing the sink.

"And you?"

She let go of Buyo the moment he heard the jostle of the bag and just watched Kouga. "There _might_ be some water bottles in the fridge but I doubt the food, if any, will be good. I'll probably have to get delivery." Crossing her arms on the table, Kagome tucked her face into the crease of her arm and smiled a little as Buyo chirruped and purred with each pass around Kouga's legs. Once he had gotten something in him, he would need a bath and that would definitely make him mad. She'd also need to check the mud room and see how bad his litter box was. If he had been stuck in the house for who-knows-how-long it was sure to be disgusting. Which would mean she needed to check if there were any masks still in one of the cupboard. There was also cleaning supplies to think about. None of that came close to counting any of the mess the Shrine was in. She hummed and burrowed down further, eyes drifting shut.

Maybe after she had a chance to relax first. And after she checked the calendar. Couldn't make calls if the places she needed to call were closed.

When she next opened her eyes, it was to the sight of her desk right across from her and a pile of blankets on her floor. Her muddled mind took in the line of warmth along her back and draped over her waist as Kouga and she burrowed further into his heat. She sighed. It had been weeks since anyone had slept beside her and she had missed the company. Probably would have felt better if they both were clean but that was mostly ignorable compared to how comfortable she was. She blinked, shifting to see that her window was propped open with Buyo on the sill, purring and the moonlight giving the shape of him a blue glow. So, it had definitely been a number of hours since she fell asleep and the cool air meant it was possibly early morning hours. Maybe even an hour until sunrise. She sighed and looked at Buyo, "Habit doesn't stop for anything, does it?" He blinked back at her, paws unfurling to claw and knead at the wood as he lifted his head and chirruped. His fur looked better than it had before she had fallen asleep though it was still strange to see her fat cat not so fat anymore. She wiggled her fingers out from under her chin and touched the tips to the edge of the sill where she waggled them. He just continued to make his little happy noises.

It had her giggling.

Kouga burrowed further into her back, his breath hitting right between her shoulder blades then quieted. In the next second, he was up and draping himself over her, his chin now perched on her shoulder. She tilted her head up to look at him, wrinkling her nose when his hair fell in her face and she tried to push it away but it was hard to do with his weight on top of her. A quick jab to his stomach and he grunted and rolled away from her while she pulled herself up to sit. Every muscle screamed at the pull and she grimaced, falling over to lay on her stomach instead of her back. The quiet little huffing noise had her turning to glare at Kouga, who just shrugged and leaned back against the wall. He tucked one leg under the other and propped an arm up onto his knee and she kept her eyes pinned firmly on his face as her face heated.

"—got to admit, it's a little weird how you're not freaking out over me in the same bed as you."

Kagome rolled her eyes, pulling a pillow under her so that her direct line of view and peace of mind was appeased. The demon practically invented the term _'raised by a pack of wolves'_. _Who knows, maybe they started the term._ "It's been four years, Kouga. I slept with Shippo almost every night and I mentioned it the other day, remember? I had someone sleep with me until the nightmares stopped. Even when I first ended up in the past, I was a very tactile person _and_ this isn't the first time we've laid together."

A brief, disgusted grimace crossed his face and he even wiped his nose at the memory. She winced at the realization of what it was he could possibly be remembering and stuffed her face in the pillow to push the majority of the memory away. She didn't want to go through another episode so soon after the last one. A tug on her hair was her only warning before Kouga was pulling her up and back in between his legs so she was leaning against him. Buyo padded over and jumped into her lap, curling back up and purring louder than before.

She sniffled a little, a smile pulling at her lips. Their easy affection certainly made this whole situation a little better and just a little easier to really take in and accept what was going to happen between her and Kouga.

It also kind of made her miss Shippo and Kirara. The two of them had been shooed off from sleeping with her anymore by Sango almost as soon as the nightmares stopped. She understood that her sweet little fox needed to grow more independent and self-reliant, especially with him traveling back and forth to that little school they had stumbled on near the beginning, but there was nothing wrong with being affectionate. He was a kitsune and it was her understanding that they were naturally tactile, even more than she was. She just hoped that he didn't get so distant he would stop telling her how his classes at the kitsune school were going.

"How are you feeling?"

"Hm? Oh, just a little sore."

"…"

She narrowed her eyes, "I'm still getting up and doing something."

"Kagome—"

"Nope. You can hover or do whatever it is you wolves call it but I am going to do something. This Shrine has seen enough disregard and there is still plenty a weak little human like me can do." Her teeth clacked together as Kouga dropped his chin on her head and she whined, jabbing him again. He dug his chin in further and she hunched down, desperately trying to wiggle out of his tightening hold. "Kouga!" He stopped pressing down on her head, didn't let her go though, and started _sniffing_ her! " _Kouga!"_ Her body jerked back with his and multiple audible cracks echoed in the air even as she went boneless against him. She groaned, a humming vibration slowly spreading along her back. Her head lolled back against his shoulder as she 'checked out' of sorts.

"Kagome!"

" _Shhhh~_ can't you see how relaxed I am right now?" The slur was imaginary. She wasn't slurring. _Noooo~ nope, noppity nope._

"But I—your back!"

"mmm, yeah, that felt great. I'd say you should pop it again but I don't it'd work." She scratched behind Buyo's ear with what little movement her body felt it was capable of making. "Think! Don't _think_ it'd work, that's what I meant."

"…it really felt that good?"

"-mmm-"

"So, it-you aren't hurt? Even with the scarring?"

"—mm-mm—"

He snorted, "Well, what I was gonna say was that maybe a bath should be the first thing either of us think about doing but _yes_ , I do plan on tracking every single movement you make."

"…you sound really creepy."

She felt him sigh and heard his mutter of _goodgodineverwannaknowwhatyou'relikedrunk_ and felt a little offended. Before she could gather up the energy to retort, he had already picked her up ( _fucking bridal style AGAIN)_ , the movement certainly bringing her back abruptly, with Buyo now happily purring on the bed, and carried her out the room and into the bathroom. Her face scrunched up and she glanced up at him, "How do you even know where this is?" He set her down on the toilet, idly pushing down where her tank had risen up.

"Had to find your room. The overlaying scent is faded and much different than what the base scent has changed into but you and your family have lived here long enough that the bits that are the same have sunk into everything you've owned since you were a kid." His head tilted, hand coming up to scratch and yank at a particularly big tangle of hair in the back. "How do you use this?"

Luckily, she had been around Shippo and— Kirara to understand what he was saying and what he had been implying before with his sniffing. She sighed and moved to help him. "Like this. The water heater was just replaced…oh, um, two years ago now but it should still work just fine so you can take one in the bathroom in mama's room."

"What?" He turned to look down at her and she felt much smaller than she already had bent over like this. He was a full head taller than her already for kami's sake! Her shoulders hunched up around her ears as she got defensive. "What?"

"Wha'dya mean other bathroom?"

She nearly reeled back, "What do _you_ mean other bathroom?"

"I ain't leaving you in here when you're already sore just from yesterday! You already agreed to let me 'hover'!"

Heat spread across her face and her body felt hot as she flushed, "That doesn't mean I'm letting you bathe with me!" Not even Miroku had been given that privilege. It had just been agreed that he would stand nearby with his shakujou staff to keep a barrier up and keep a look out. "You are not bathing with me!"

His eyes narrowed at her and he crossed his arms, "Kagome."

Her lips pulled back and she stood up to -nearly- meet him chest-to-chest. "This isn't up for discussion. And the _only_ way I'm agreeing to _anything_ concerning this is if you wait outside the door and if I need help, I'll call you!" She jabbed a finger into his chest, digging it in. "And don't think for _even a second_ that I don't remember falling asleep half-naked in front of you the other day!"

"Your scent had gone acrid from the pain!"

She rose a brow in disbelief.

"Emotions have a different smell to them so, yes, it did smell different than your vomit." Kagome's blush deepened in mortification. Kouga signed and stepped back from her. "I'll be standing right outside the door but you still have to show me how this all works."

She buried her face in her hands as he shut the door behind him.

~ End. ~

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Word Count: 3,269

Posted: September 7, 2017 (10:19 PM Mountain Time)

Information: The usual schooling in Japan is 6 years of primary school (from the age of 7 to 12), 3 years of junior high school(from the age of 13 to 15), 3 years of senior high school (from the age of 16 to 18), and 4 years of university education(from the age of 19 to 22).

\- The basic school system in Japan is composed of elementary school (lasting six years), middle school (three years), high school (three years), and university (four years). Education is compulsory only for the nine years of elementary and middle school, but 98% of students go on to high school.

\- Japanese children had to go to school from Monday to Saturday every week. Now, though, there are no classes on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, and beginning in April 2002 all Saturdays will be free.

\- Japanese schools have three semesters, separated by vacations. At most schools, summer vacation covers the 40-odd days from July 20 to August 31; winter and spring vacation both last around 10 days, from December 26 to around January 6 and March 25 to around April 5, respectively. Summer vacation at most Japanese public elementary and middle schools now starts on Marine Day on July 20 and usually lasts for around six weeks through the end of August. In some regions like Hokkaido, though, where winters are very cold, summer vacations are sometimes a little shorter and winter breaks longer.

\- In the research I'm slowly doing for this, I found out Kun-Loon is more of Chinese Origin rather than Japanese Origin so I actually will not be using that name anymore. Nadoka is the only other name I've ever heard be used for her so I'm going with that one.

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Note 2: This is currently all I have on both this site and AO3 and I'm not sure how long it'll take me to update again! 


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